Saiko
by Eva-sama
Summary: Sesshoumaru had been a happy, normal child. (Or as normal as demon children get) What happened to turn him into the aristocratic assassin we know and love? Perhaps the loss of his twin sister? Set in the 'present' (for him) with flashbacks. Please read an


Gather ye round and a story I'll tell...A tale of good times and hard ones; a tale of war and of peace. A tale of hate, but one more of love. A tale of mortals and of demons....  
  
Sesshoumaru floated over the lush landscape he remembered from his childhood. He knew he was dreaming, for he had been back to that spot many times since then, finding only bleakness, dead trees and ashes left by his father's last rage before Sesshoumaru had left home. He looked at his old house, remembering the barren, blackened planks he had seen on his last visit, but seeing the bright and cheerful place of his childhood. The memory, though, was somehow darkened by what he knew had happened in that cheerful, happy looking home, and knowing the secrets that house held.  
  
Suddenly, he heard a rustling from behind him. Turning toward it, he saw it came from a hidden grove a short way from the old house. The grove had been completely destroyed almost four hundred years ago, and he hadn't used it in more than five hundred years, ever since his...He stopped, not wanting to think about it.  
  
Two voices rose out of the grove, carried by the wind to where Sesshoumaru was floating, surveying the scene. He moved in closer, curious as to who was speaking. A young boy and girl, nearly identical, stood in the center of the clearing; the boy practicing sword techniques, the girl watching with growing excitement. Both looked no more than six or seven, when, in truth, they were well past their 250th birthdays. The boy was dressed in battle garb, but that of a noble class, and mostly in red and white, his two favorite colors. The girl had on a dressy kimono, pink and white, and printed with sakura blossoms. She played with the sash for a moment, trying to loosen the knot her mother had tied it in so she could breath again. Her long, pale blue hair had been twisted into a fancy up-do and was tied with a frilly pink ribbon, showing off her pointed ears, long, elegant neck, and most of all, the blue four pointed star on her forehead and reddish stripes on her cheeks. Her brother's hair, much like her own in color and style, hung loose, hanging in his face as he worked through his sword practice, hiding the crescent moon on his forehead, and the similar stripes on his cheeks. Sesshoumaru gasped slightly as he remembered this scene. Many an afternoon he had spent his time in that grove, with his sister Saiko as his faithful companion, at around that age.  
  
He sighed, wishing he could forget all these memories, and resigned himself to the dream, feeling his consciousness being sucked into the body of his younger self, watching from behind his eyes.  
  
(AN: The rest of this dream sequence is gonna be told from the perspective of young Sesshoumaru, who's just gonna be called Sesshoumaru, since the Sesshie we all know and love is actually inside of his mind, so to speak, sharing his thoughts and memories and commenting on them as he sees fit...anywho, I hope you all understood that...)  
  
Sesshoumaru finished his sword exercises quickly, and, sticking the point of the sword into the ground, leaned on it to take a rest, grinning at his twin sister, who stuck her tongue out at him and crossed her eyes.  
  
"Sure, bro, just show off to me that YOU get to use the sword and I don't!" she whined at him. "When's it gonna be MY turn?"  
  
Sesshoumaru sighed. They went over this EVERY time she followed him out to sword practice! Why couldn't she just give it a rest?! "Sorry, sis," he said calmly, "You know dad's rules about you and swords. Not for girls, that's not feminine, only males are allowed to lift a sword and protect people."  
  
She sighed, just like she always did. "What if I wanna protect myself? What if no one's there, and there's a sword, but I can't use it 'cause no one ever let me practice?" she said dejectedly, looking down at the ground.  
  
Sesshoumaru smiled at her. "Aw, C'mmon, Sai. You know I'll always be there to protect you!"  
  
She looked up at him, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "Promise?" she asked, her voice full of the mountain wind and bird song, her eyes a sapphire blue, brimming with moonstone colored tears as she looked up at him, begging, pleading for him to always be there.  
  
"I promise. Forever and ever." Sesshoumaru said, helping her up. "We'd better get back; I hear mom calling us. Race you back!" he laughed, running off.  
  
His sister stayed a moment, wiping her tears away before shouting "Wait for me, bro! You know I can't run in this thing!"  
  
'I didn't protect her......' Sesshoumaru thought sadly, the dream scene changing to another.  
  
There was a moment of darkness, and the next thing Sesshoumaru saw was Saiko, older than she had been last time. She was sitting in the middle of the family library, surrounded by old, dusty books. 'She always had loved reading and writing...' he remembered. He smiled and walked up to her, waiting for a moment so she could find a stopping place, but she was oblivious to his presence, engrossed in her reading. "What are you doing?" he asked, amusement in his voice, and leaned over to look at the paper she was scrawling notes on.  
  
"Studying shifters again." She mumbled, not looking up from her book, which was a particularly old and worn one, bound in fading green leather. She handed him her notes page, and muttered "I'll be with you in a second", twisting her hair around her finger and turning the page.  
  
Sesshoumaru inspected the page, and found it the writing, instead of being his sisters normal, tidy writing, it was crammed with tiny, smudged, cryptic marks. He held it at all different distances and angles, trying to decipher it, but found that he couldn't. Saiko laughed quietly and turned the page of her book. "Can't read it, can you?"  
  
"I can too!" he yelled indignantly  
  
She smirked. "Read it to me, then."  
  
"Fine!" he squinted at the paper. "It says......all right, what does it say?"  
  
She grabbed the paper from him and cleared her throat. "Shifter demons can be born into any family if both parents are demons of the same type. They can become extremely powerful, even learning how to shift into any type of living creature, and many non-living objects. They are killed as soon as they are discovered, for fear of their powers. It is ordered by law that they are killed. The most famous was known by the name of Tashi. He conquered the eastern lands, and most of the west before dying of natural causes." She smiled. "That's all I have so far."  
  
The scene surrounding Sesshoumaru blurred, shifted, and finally faded into another.  
  
()()()()  
  
That's it for right now! I'll write more later, I promise. Please review! Ja! 


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